Click here to read the Spanish version.
The World Cheese Awards 2023, the most recognized international competition in the world of cheese, have been held these days. This latest edition, held in Norway, counted with the participation of 4,502 cheeses from 43 countries around the world, “a record number”, according to its organizers. The jury, made up of prestigious specialists in the field, chose a Norwegian cheese as this year’s best. Specifically, the winning cheese was Nidelven Blå.
It is a cow’s milk blue cheese that is aged between six and nine months and is made on the Gangstadt Gårdsyster farm, which is now in its third generation of farmers, currently run by Maren and Ole Gangstadt.
This cheese has already won several international awards. It is also the farm’s flagship product, being Gangstadt Gårdsyster’s best-selling cheese. Among the aspects most valued by the jury were its texture, short creaminess, very dense sweetness and slight bitterness.
These are the 17 award-winning Spanish cheeses
Although no Spanish cheese made it to the finalists, the World Cheese Awards 2023 did award 17 Spanish cheeses with the Supergold medal – out of the 101 winners in this category – which is the highest distinction a cheese can be awarded.
These are the Spanish cheeses that have been recognized:
- Galmesán (A Coruña)
- Manchego Media Curación Dehesa Los Llanos (Albacete)
- Reserva Pasteurizado Finca La Cuadra (Albacete)
- Gamoneu Central Lechera Asturiana Maestro Quesero (Asturias)
- Queso Ahumado de Herederos de Tomás (Cantabria)
- Adiano Manchego Reserva (Ciudad Real)
- Arcano Curado (Ciudad Real)
- Curado Pasteurizado de Cabra de Quesos Luisita (Gran Canaria)
- Curado de Oveja de Guía La Caldera (Gran Canaria)
- Maxorata Curado Al Pimentón Majorero (Fuerteventura)
- Oveja Curado Los Cameros (La Rioja)
- Pata de Mulo Semicurado Los Payuelos (León)
- Abuelo Ruperto (Murcia)
- Abuelo Ruperto Mini (Murcia)
- Sierra de Albarracín Etiqueta Verde (Teruel)
- Capricho Homenaje de Granja Rinya (València)
- Hircus Mega Caprino del Esla (Zamora)
Finally, the cheese named as the best Spanish cheese was Capricho Homenaje, made at Granja Rinya, in Valencia. It is a soft cheese made with pasteurized cow’s milk and vegetarian rennet, matured between 0 and 2 weeks.